Sinn Féin will hold the position of Lord Mayor of Dublin for the 1916 centenary commemorations under a deal agreed by Dublin City councillors.
The arrangement, which is due to be rubber-stamped at a meeting this evening, will see the position of lord mayor rotate between the five largest political groupings on the local authority over the next five years.
It is expected that the grouping of Independents, which comprises 12 councillors, will nominate Cllr Christy Burke for the position of lord mayor 2014/2015 at a meeting in City Hall tomorrow.
Next year, councillors will elect a Sinn Féin lord mayor for 2015/2016, to be followed in subsequent years by councillors from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour.
Outgoing Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn will hand over the chain of office to his successor tomorrow at a meeting which will also determine the make-up of the council’s various committees.
The recent local elections returned Sinn Féin as the largest party in the now-63 seat Dublin City Council. Prior to that, Fine Gael and Labour held the majority of seats - a combined 27 out of 52 - which enabled them to swap the mayoralty each year.
As it stands now, the share of the seats is: Sinn Féin: 16; Independents: 12; Fianna Fáil: 9; Fine Gael: 8; Labour: 8. Sinn Féin’s strength on the council puts it in a position to seek the mayoralty for the 1916 commemorations.
Mr Burke, who is expected to be named next lord mayor tomorrow, is a long-serving Dublin City councillor and a former member of Sinn Féin. He resigned from the party shortly after the 2009 local election.
